Studio: international art (18.1900)

Arts and Crafts

Miss Mary Newill—who, in common with not a
few members of the Birmingham school, became
distinguished first as an artist in black-and-
white—is now devoting her attention mainly to
embroidery and glass-painting, the latter being
her favourite art. In pursuit of it she is indeed
as thorough as she is practical, not merely de-
signing the cartoons upon paper, but also select-
ing the pieces of glass and painting them with her
own hand. Experience has taught her not only
the fascination and pleasure that the artist derives
from this practice, but also that such is the surest
way to attain satisfactory results. The set of three
lights, the subject of which is Queen Matilda with
her attendants embroidering the so-called Bayeux
Tapestry, has just been completed. A companion
window depicts St. Cecilia, the patroness of music.
The other branch of Miss Newill's work is repre-
sented fitly by the embroidered panels illustrating
Spenser's " Faerie Queene." These two constitute
the most elaborate portions of a series for the
decoration of a dining-room. The ground of the
panels, which are divided by bands of dark oak
some four inches broad, is a cloth of a light
chocolate tint. The design is carried out, in green
serge applique for the foliage of the trees, light

linen for the figures and the castle behind them,
while the outline and certain details are in em-
broidery—a very simple scheme compared with the
grandness of the subject, yet one which, in the
present instance, had to be adopted from motives
of economy. For some time past Miss Newill had
entertained the idea, started by the wish to emulate
the effect of Japanese prints, of turning her hand
to applique; but it was not until now that the
occasion arose for giving practical shape to her
intention. Although, then, the work must be
regarded in the nature of an experiment, and the
artist already sees her way to several developments
and improvements in it, she is nevertheless not
dissatisfied with the result thus far obtained. For
it is decidedly a sparing of time, and need not
entail any sacrifice of effect, to lay on pieces of
different materials (indeed, the very variety of
texture increases the general richness), always pro-
vided that the spaces be large enough and free
from complexity. For as soon as ever the pattern
becomes minute or involved, all saving of labour
is necessarily at an end. Miss Newill proposes
next to take up tempera painting, with the view to
mural decoration ; a fresh project which has arisen
out of her first visit to Florence. She is there at

TEA-COSY

186

DESIGNED BY W. REYNOLDS-STEPHENS
EXECUTED BY MRS. REYNOLDS-STEPHENS